Often, it is desirable for glass plates or windows used in buildings, cars, etc. to be light and/or heat reflecting. Various methods and compositions have been used to vary the light and/or heat reflecting properties of glass plates that are consistently exposed to sunlight.
Methods have been developed to coat glass plates with heat and/or light reflective material. However, the methods and compositions that have been developed to date generally require a thermal decomposition step, during which the glass plate is heated to about 400.degree. C. As a result, most of such methods are restricted to the factory.
One type of commercially available device for temporary use is a roll of translucent darkened plastic sheeting provided with suction cups and/or VELCRO fixtures to attach the darkened plastic sheeting to and/or remove the sheeting from a glass surface. Although this type of darkened plastic sheeting may reduce the transmission of light and/or heat through the glass, this type of plastic sheeting is cumbersome to apply and typically can be applied only to a very limited surface area. Also, many states outlaw the application of fixtures, such as plastic sheeting, to the front windshield of a vehicle.
A heat and/or light reflective film that could be easily applied to and removed from glass on demand by the consumer would be highly desirable.